The year is off to a violent start. Over two weeks, Spokane law enforcement has shot four people – killing three and seriously injuring one. The number is equal to the total number of police shootings with injury or death in 2023. Nine people were shot by police in 2022. “These situations are tragic for everyone involved,” Mayor Lisa Brown said in a statement Monday night, adding that she has been in steady communication with interim Police Chief Justin Lundgren and that the city is “committed to transparency in the process of reviewing these shootings.” On Jan. 30, deputies with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office shot and killed a man who they say swung an ax at them in north Spokane. One day later, nine Spokane police officers shot and killed a man in Spokane’s Cliff/Cannon Neighborhood. Police say he pointed a gun at them. On Feb. 12, police shot and killed a man in a home near Northtown Mall who reportedly shot a woman while she was trying to call 911. Later that day, police shot a man who had reportedly been walking around downtown threatening people with a knife. The man was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. (NATE SANFORD)